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Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-Va.) is willing to stake his career on the climate change vote, no matter the consequences.
John Shinkle

In addition, the White House will send the president and his cabinet secretaries out on the road to stump for fellow Democrats, bolstering them where they need it. The secretaries of energy and agriculture will both make trips to Perriello’s district to meet with his constituents, the congressman said Friday.

So Perriello, who ousted longtime Republican Rep. Virgil Goode last year by a mere 727 votes, is working to get ahead of a potential problem 18 months before voters head to the polls.

In a barn in the middle of the VIRginia International Raceway, Perriello told a collection of elected officials and local business leaders: “There are two types of communities: There are communities that are looking backwards and communities that are looking forward.”

Textile mills and tobacco farms once thrived in Virginia’s “Southside,” near the North Carolina border. But the mills have been closing for decades, and the region produces 30 percent less tobacco now than it did just a few years ago, according to John Kennedy, the director of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, a program run under the umbrella of Virginia Tech University.

“If we can create an industry that produces ethanol and other fuels, we can utilize all this land,” Kennedy said.

The district still has plenty of agriculture and timber, and some local farmers worry the cost of this new economy will put them out of business.

And if Perriello is going to defend his vote on the climate change bill, he’ll need to explain it to folks like Carl Tinder.

“I don’t know what this means for me,” said Tinder, a small farmer who also manages a cattle farm in the northern part of the district. “It’s definitely a step in the direction I’m a little hesitant about.”

Community leaders are pooling their resources in a bid to collect grant money wherever they can in the hopes of spurring bio-fuel production or any other manufacturing jobs. At this stage, they are focused on job training.

“Employers need a trained workforce,” said Laurie Moran, president of the Danville Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce, who has helped organize a local cooperative of government officials and business leaders to help amass public and private grant money.

“We need to support legislation that will support second generation bio-fuels,” Perriello said. “The government isn’t going to create the jobs. But it can give business the incentive to invest.”

The crowd in Alton responded well to Perriello, offering him a standing ovation before he delivered his brief remarks. But as the new congressman mingled after the speech, one attendee leaned over to another and whispered, “He cast the wrong vote.”

But after he finished, elected officials and business owners alike approached him about the prospects — or progress — of various grants and earmarks they were trying to secure through the $787 billion stimulus or through the regular appropriations process.

Republicans are hoping to undercut Perriello before he and his office get more firmly established in the region.

“Tom Perriello’s national energy tax vote was the defining moment of his short career,” NRCC spokesman Andy Sere said, adding that voters in his district who once thought of him as “that nice young man … is actually a smug globalist who cares more about his Daily Kos cred than the farmers, laborers and middle-class families in his district.”

One Roanoke station refused the run the campaign committee’s ad — which portrays Perriello as a tool of President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). But the Lynchburg, Va,, News and Advance ran a story on the front-page Friday — opposite another headline about the community receiving $700,000 in stimulus money.

Perriello complains that these attacks are just more of the same “old politics” that helped Republicans squander the White House and their majorities on Capitol Hill.

“The Republicans may win some seats because of this vote, but they can’t regain their souls for demagoguing the issue,” Perriello said.

As a candidate, Perriello broke the mold in ways, by taking Democratic stands in a decidedly Republican district. He seems to have retained that confidence coming out of the election and wants to help Obama be bold — even in south central Virginia.

“People are sick of cowardice,” Perriello said. “It’s not the easy votes, it’s the hard votes.”

Readers' Comments (1164)

You forgot to mention that one local station, in Roanoke VA, won't air the GOP attack ad because of distorted or plain wrong "facts." Too bad there aren't more stations brave enough to turn down these false ads. I encourage all who believe that it's time to move forward on our energy policies to write these pols and thank them for putting their country above their careers. Even make a donation to their campaigns if you can. The right won't stop with their lies, so it's up to us to help keep the truth front and center. Whether you believe in global warming or not, the fossil fuels WILL run out and we need to be prepared! Thank you Congressman Perriello and all the others who took a chance on change!

And yet somehow true to it's form of recent times they seem to proclaim they have an issue pertinent to their constiuents that is a flat out lie.A Virginia televison station has refused to air the latest GOP mangling of facts because it is so blatantly false.If one has a genuine issue that represents and benefits the people one does not have to lie.The RNC we have now simply does not get that simple fact.

Here is the quote from the station manager in Virginia

"

The ad says the bill will result in lost jobs and cost "middle class families" $1,870 a year. That sounds pretty dire, until you consider that this week we posted an item about the Office of the Republican Whip Eric Cantor's claim that the same bill would "impose a national energy tax of up to $3,100." So is the cost of the legislation going down? Did the NRCC make a mistake in its math? Hardly. While it may seem curious that House Republicans would flog two different cost figures for the proposed legislation, it is indicative of the difficulty in determining how a cap on carbon emissions could affect Americans' electricity bills. The NRCC ad credits a Washington Times editorial for its claim that the Waxman-Markey bill would make electricity prices "skyrocket," costing families $1,870 a year. But the NRCC is wrong. "

When will these guys that run this political party learn? Americans have screamed at the polls for honest government .A valid point does not need a lie to be proven.Someone please rush this memo to the NRCC.

By hammering the United States back into the 17th century. The arrogance of these people is astounding. THERE IS NO MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE! Those of you who think that the costs will be small are not paying attention. Our government hasn't done ANYTHING right in two decades. What makes you think that they have changed? TARP--loser, Stimulus -- loser, Grand-kids--losers

It’s unclear whether voters in this part of Virginia, where tobacco farms are shrinking, textile mills have shut down and unemployment remains well above the national average, will embrace Perriello’s optimism about green jobs and cap and trade

TeamPOLITICO: Jul. 3, 2009 - 5:53 AM EST

Really, how is anybody – even a professional economist – to know exactly what the effect of this bill will be?

Provide a link for that statement please.Anyone can post a falsehood or take a statement out of context.If you do not post a link for your post a crebible link for your post we can safely ASSume it is false.

This whole climate change scenario dates back to Gores VP days and lobbyists like GE approaching him in his bid to run for President. If you look at the economic graphs since that period you can see the steady spiral downwards begins. This is just another attempt at a group of politicians and lobbyists grabbing as much power as possible, Perriello might be a young impressionable politician but he's on the wrong track.

I do hope the American people can see through this and contact their local and state politicians to not vote for this or any bills they will not have a chance to unconstitutionally read and debate.

Two politicians are out in the woods and having a disagreement when a huge bear comes up and sits down beside them. They immediately started arguing about which direction to run. The bear ate them both. Moral- If the concept is ridiculous, RUN AWAY FROM IT!

This freshman Democrat POS is exactly the kind of politician who is destroying the USA. This bill is nothing but a gigantic tax imposed on EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING. Of course, the government gets the money.

The problem is the Democrats solution always involves some sort of taxation. Democrats generally oppose the only current viable source of clean energy. Nuclear power. They have made it inevitable that Oil will go back up since they seem to oppose all new drilling. They oppose shale oil and have blocked the production of shale oil. Gas will go back to $5.00 and the tiny fractions of wind and solar will be meaningless. Cap and Tax will lead to a bloodbath at the polls. Go for it.

But, the most pressing need right now is to reverse our declining economic structures. This must be done first, and in that regard we’re failing. President Obama, as much as I support him, hasn’t taken the aggressive measures needed to reverse the downward spiral

There is no question that we need to deal with our energy problems. I needn’t reiterate that unless we get off polluting forms of energy, stop sending money to terrorists who hate us, and develop clean, affordable, sustainable energy, we face long term – and in many ways catastrophic – troubles.

We all know that our current healthcare system is badly broken, and it’s draining our economy and ruining the health of our citizens.

But, the most pressing need right now is to reverse our declining economic structures. This must be done first, and in that regard we’re failing.

I agree with you up to this point. I am a conservative, and have believed since the 1970s that we need to clean up pollution, and be energy independent. But I believe the market can bring about these changes in a much more effective manner than this government.

Our government can't do anything effeciently. NOTHING. But magically, you think they can do the things described above?

Yes, we need a new stimulus. It should be lending to small business, cutting business and personal taxes. If you think we can tax and spend our way out of this massive mess, you are WRONG.

Actually the local station has no business refusing the ads. They base their decision on the opinion of one group over another. They claim the CBO numbers are widely accepted and the Heritage Foundation study has been debunked when this is clearly untrue. Will they refuse any Obama healthcare Ads because the CBO said Obama's numbers don't add up? I think this behavior by media is very dangerous indeed. The results of the Cap and Trade bill are guesses. CBO and Heritage are offering an opinion .

Provide a link for that statement please.Anyone can post a falsehood or take a statement out of context.If you do not post a link for your post a crebible link for your post we can safely ASSume it is false.

Google the quote and you will get many hits. If you want to hear his own words. thr truth will set you free.